Matthew Bennett (Willow Ethos) explores how leaders can combine Gen Z into high-pressure environments by changing unstated norms with readability, outcomes and sustainable depth.
Now we have all seen the numerous articles about how AI is changing entry-level jobs, or that recruitment out of college is at its lowest in years, however for these Gen Z-ers who’re fortunate sufficient to search out employment sooner or later, there may be one other situation that they face as they enter the office and it’s one which has led to a completely new management problem: how will we combine Technology Z into high-pressure, client-driven groups? These are environments constructed on tempo, responsiveness and endurance. Gen Z, against this, arrive with firmer expectations round boundaries, wellbeing and management over their time than any cohort of workers earlier than them.
The result’s a generational conflict.
In actuality, it’s higher understood as a collision of assumptions about what dedication appears like at work. Senior leaders got here of age in skilled programs the place lengthy hours weren’t simply regular, however significant. Visibility equalled reliability and saying “sure” shortly signalled ambition. The intersection of visibility and depth was the proving floor via which credibility was earned. Many leaders who now run groups internalised these norms so deeply that they really feel self-evident.
Gen Z don’t reject effort or ambition, however they do query the design of labor that depends on everlasting urgency and implied availability. Gen Z are NOT lazy – they need profitable enterprise outcomes simply as a lot because the generations that went earlier than. However the steadiness of how that is achieved and what ‘success’ means, has shifted. Analysis persistently exhibits that Gen Z prioritise wellbeing, growth and, importantly, a way of goal alongside pay, and are way more prepared than earlier generations to choose out of environments that really feel unsustainably consuming. This isn’t as a result of they care much less about work, however as a result of they care extra in regards to the totality of their lives as an individual and have grown up watching burnout play out in actual time amongst older colleagues. Gen Z are Technology COVID, who have been made to remain at house of their most youth and by some means tasked with discovering the motivation to attend on-line lessons with out the enjoyable of being with their buddies, a technology for whom display screen time and social media grew to become a lifestyle. Their formative experiences are distinctive and the result’s a stress that we’ve to grasp if we’re to permit them and our organisations to excel.
Consulting magnifies this stress. Shopper calls for are actual. Deadlines are immovable. Peaks are inevitable. But a lot of the pressure skilled by youthful professionals doesn’t come from depth itself, however from unpredictability, ambiguity and unstated guidelines. When the whole lot feels pressing, nothing feels bounded. When expectations are implicit, folks default to over-delivery for security.
That is the place the management job has modified.
The query for leaders is now not whether or not Gen Z ought to “toughen up” or whether or not consulting ought to “go tender.” The query is whether or not companies are prepared to transfer from endurance cultures to intentional efficiency programs.
The strongest leaders are already doing this in delicate however highly effective methods.
First, they’re making the efficiency contract express. Reasonably than counting on inherited norms (“that is simply the way it works”), they articulate what excellence appears like of their groups: when flexibility is predicted, how peaks are dealt with, what good availability means, and the place boundaries genuinely sit. This readability reduces nervousness and prevents over-interpretation.
Second, they’re shifting from hours-as-proof to outcomes-as-proof. Outcomes-as-proof removes the stress to look current merely for the sake of trying current. Gen Z reply properly to clear deliverables, milestones and requirements. When success is outlined by high quality and affect somewhat than visibility alone, leaders acquire extra leverage, not much less, over efficiency.
Third, efficient leaders design predictable depth. Consulting will at all times contain spikes, however unpredictability is what erodes belief. Deliberate rotations, restoration time after crunch intervals, and agreed “quiet hours” sign professionalism somewhat than indulgence. The place late nights are required, naming them truthfully builds credibility.
Fourth, they coach boundaries as a skilled functionality, not a private choice. Instructing juniors how one can handle consumer expectations, flag dangers early, escalate intelligently and talk proactively reframes boundaries as a supply talent, one which protects each folks and outcomes.
Lastly, leaders recognise that tradition is realized via behaviour, not coverage. When senior leaders ship emails at midnight, have a good time heroics and reward fixed availability, these alerts override any wellbeing assertion. Conversely, when leaders mannequin focus, prioritisation and disciplined escalation, Gen Z adapt shortly as a result of the foundations are seen.
This second isn’t about accommodating a “tough technology.” It’s about updating management to click on for a world the place work has expanded past its outdated edges. Corporations that succeed won’t abandon excessive requirements; they may run depth intentionally somewhat than by chance.
And in doing so, they might discover that Gen Z usually are not a risk to Consulting’s efficiency tradition; their place will be that of a catalyst to make it sustainable.
Matthew Bennett | Willow Ethos – Founding Companion of Willow Ethos
With intensive expertise within the consultancy trade, Matthew Bennett is recognised as a seasoned operator and co founding father of a tradition pushed consultancy. The consultancy promotes progress by combining management growth with information led insights, making certain a powerful alignment between organisational tradition and workers.
As a founding father of Willow Ethos, Matthew Bennett has achieved notable success in enhancing organisational efficiency. By way of govt teaching and the applying of behavioural primarily based blueprints, he helps his shoppers in reaching sustainable progress and long-term affect.
Learn extra:
Main Throughout a Generational Fault Line: Consulting, Gen Z, and the Redefinition of Dedication
